Warrant out for killer who failed to show up at halfway house

Jun 04 2012

A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for a 33-year-old man convicted of manslaughter in Nanaimo in 2004.

Robert James Williams is wanted for breach of statutory release, after police said he failed to return to a Vancouver halfway house at which he was living. The warrant was issued May 23.

Williams was granted statutory release in April.

Nanaimo RCMP said Friday that Williams is believed to have associates on Vancouver Island but there had been no sightings of him here.

He is described as white, five-foot-seven and weighing 160 pounds. He has brown hair, green eyes and tattoos on either side of his neck.

On the morning of Sept. 24, 2002, Williams, for reasons still not entirely clear, killed Gaetane Godin, 27, in her apartment. Although Williams was charged with seconddegree murder, he entered a guilty plea to manslaughter just before his B.C. Supreme Court trial was to begin.

Police said Williams should not be approached. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.